Roofing and siding panel construction



July 30, 1968 R. o. WIDDOWSON 3,394,515

ROOFING AND SIDING PANEL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 2. 1968 mvzu'ron. RALPH DONALD WIDDOWSON his ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,394,515 ROOFING AND SIDING PANEL CONSTRUCTION Ralph Donald Widdowson, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to The Elwin G. Smith & Company, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 389,034,

Aug. 12, 1964. This application Jan. 2, 1968, Ser- 3 Claims. (Cl. 52-394) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a roofing and siding panel construction with panels of corrugated material interlocking in side-by-side relationship and die-clinched at intervals. The panels are secured to a purlin by means of brackets which fasten to the purlin and have upstanding flanges which cooperate with intermediate flanges in the corrugated panels. A special tubular gasket is provided where the side edges of adjoining panels interlock and above the crests of the panel corrugations so as to make the joint waterproof.

Backgr und of the invention This application is a continuation-in-part of my pending application Ser. No. 389,034 filed Aug. 12, 1964 and now abandoned.

This invention relates to a corrugated, sheet metal construction suitable for erection of roofing and siding in industrial buildings and, more particularly, to an interlocking and sealed joint for joining corrugated panels in side-by-side relation so as to form large spans of sheetmg.

Corrugated sheet metal panels have been used for roofing by overlapping the crest portions of the side edges and securing them together by self-tapping screws or bolts. This construction has the outstanding disadvantage that such screws or bolts require puncturing of the side edge portions of the sheets or panels, thus creating a great tendency for leakage. Moreover, when the adjoining trough portions of the secured side portions of the sheet are filled with melted snow or rain water, such water will penetrate the joints between the sheets, that is, between the lapped crest portions of the corrugated side edges of the sheets and thus cause leakage. In fact, such leakage occurs even 'when such troughs are not filled with rain water, but in instances of wind-driven rain penetrating the joints.

A further disadvantage of such corrugated sheets joined by bolts or screws is that the bolts or screws mar the overall appearance and reveal the existence of joints, instead of giving the more attractive appearance of continuity and similarity to a single sheet.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel corrugated or ribbed metal sheet or panel for roofing and siding, which is devoid of the above-named disadvantages and which will prevent flow through the joints of rain or melted snow even though adjoining troughs are filled therewith or even though rain water is driven into the joints.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel corrugated sheet metal panel construction which may be assembled with like panels without the necessity of puncturin'g the side edges with screws or bolts to join the panels together.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel panel construction which may be easily and quickly assembled merely by laying one edge portion of one sheet onto that of another sheet and which will give the appearance of a single sheet extending throughout the entire width of the side or root of a large building, thus greatly enhancing the general appearance of the building.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an eflicient gasket device for sealing the panel assembly against leaks and seepage.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross-section, of a corrugated roofing panel assembly embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken through the joints of adjacent panels before they are interlocked.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken through the joints of adjacent panels after the tubular gasket has been engaged; and,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view of the joint in FIG. 3 after it has been die-clinched.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 generally denotes a corrugated roofing or siding assembly made up of a plurality of corrugated, sheet metal panels 2 with intermediate flanges 4 secured to a purlin or frame 6 by angle shaped retainer brackets 5 and bolt 7. The panels may be made of aluminum, steel, galvanized iron or other suitable material, oven plastic material, and be either corrugated as shown or may be ribbed, that is, with the sides, top and bottoms of the corrugations flat instead of curved.

A novel feature of the invention is the construction of the flanged side edges 3 and 9 of the panel which interlock against a tube-like gasket 8 so as to assure a weather-tight joint and so as to greatly facilitate assembly of the panels 2 when building up a large roof span or sidewall span at the building site.

As will be seen more clearly in FIG. 2, one side edge of the panel is reversely bent at 3 and flanged at 10 so as to form a substantially U-shaped channel or female member 11 which has inserted therein a tubular gasket 8, preferably made of vinyl plastic or other suitable material whose diameter is slightly more than the inside width of the channel. By forcing the gasket into the channel, a slight deformation or elongation of the cross-section of the gasket takes placethereby assuring a tight fit and an efficient seal.

In assembly, inverted U-shaped channel 11 is positioned over an upstanding end flange 9 of an adjust sheet so that channel 11 of flange 10 encloses flange 9. The end of flange 9 engages and deforms gasket 8 at its lower portion, thereby creating a U-shaped gasket (as seen in FIG. 3) with legs 12. The assembly may be die-clinched at intervals, as shown at 13 in FIG. 4, so as to rigidly secure the panels to each other.

It should be noted that the gasket 8 is preferably higher than the crests of the corrugation of panels 2 so as to eliminate all possibility of seepage therethrough even if the troughs of the corrugations become filled with water or snow. In some instances a portion thereof may be lower than such crest. Also, in some cases, ribs 4 may be omitted.

Thus it can be seen that I have provided an efficient corrugated or ribbed panel construction with a novel side edge construction to enable easy and quick assembly of a plurality of panels in edge-to-edge construction to enable easy assembly at the building site of a plurality of panels in edge-to-edge relationship so as to form water-tight, sealed joints, as well as strong joints, for the erection of large spans of siding or roofing as required in large industrial buildings without the necessity of forming holes in the side edges of the panel, thereby eliminating the possibility of leakage.

Furthermore, I have provided a corrugated panel construction wherein one of the edges contains a female member into which a tubular gasket may be inserted at the factory, so that upon assembly at the building site, a liquid-tight and air-tight seal may be easily and quickly made between adjoining panels without the necessity of bolts or screws; furthermore I have provided a siding or roofing panel assembly which gives the appearance of being made from a single corrugated sheet, although it is made of a multiplicity of such sheets.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made Within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims:

I claim:

1. An assembly for roofing and siding comprising:

a purlin;

retainer bracket secured to said purlin having a downwardly extending, angle portion and an upwardly extending, reversely bent flange;

corrugated panels joined together in side-by-side relationship, each panel having an upstanding flange portion at one side edge and an upstanding reversely bent portion of inverted U-shaped cross section at the other side edge, also having a U-shaped intermediate flange which cooperates with said reversely bent flange of said bracket so as to secure said panels to said purlin; and

4 a tubular gasket disposed in said reversely bent pane portion so as to be engaged by said upstanding flange portion of the panel during assembly in order to assure a water-tight seal in the joint between the side edges of adjoining panels. 2. A roofing and siding assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein said interlocking panels are die-clinched at intervals longitudinally of said reversely bent panel portions below said gasket so as to be securely fastened to each other.

3. A roofing and siding assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein said tubular gasket is disposed in a position which is entirely above the crests of the panel corrugations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 162,722 4/1875 Wands 52521 237,133 2/1881 Sagendorph 52-520 302,286 7/1884 Sagendorph 52-521 426,627 4/1890 Sagendorph 52394 2,262,378 11/ 1941 Zavodsky 52-520 2,776,460 1/1957 Bottom.

FOREIGN PATENTS 467,209 10/ 1928 Germany. 910,110 11/1962 Great Britain.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED C. P ERHAM, Assistant Examiner. 

